Kyren Wilson is gearing up for a huge battle against Shaun Murphy in the Masters final this Sunday.

The 33-year-old is aiming to kick off 2025 by securing his first-ever Masters title, adding another major honour to his already stellar career. Despite being the reigning champion, has not enjoyed an easy ride to the final at Alexandra Palace.

'The Warrior' overcame top-10 talents Zhang Anda and Luca Brecel in the earlier rounds before ousting world No.1 Judd Trump in his semi-final. Finding himself behind at the halfway mark against Trump, Wilson rallied to win four straight frames and claim a 6-3 victory on Saturday.

In the other semi-final clash, carved out his own moment in the spotlight with a sensational 147 break, defeating Mark Allen by the same scoreline. Nevertheless, Murphy's success is unlikely to deter Wilson, who was forced to juggle his sporting career with heart-wrenching family issues last year.

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In an emotional interview before clinching the World Championship, Wilson discussed the family crises he had been dealing with. His wife Sophie had suffered a stroke and was also diagnosed with epilepsy, forcing her to relinquish her driving license due to her medical condition.

The couple, who got married in June 2016, have two sons together. Kyren explained that he had spent less time around the snooker table due to his wife's condition and his youngest son Bailey's health scare. It was initially feared he had a tumour, but it was later identified as stomach and bowel inflammation.

"There have been lots of things going on with the family. So snooker has had to take a little bit of a backseat this year," Wilson told in April 2024. "Not necessarily something I'd have like to have done or chosen to do.

"My wife's had to surrender her licence because of her epilepsy. That was brought on by Bailey being really ill last year. Off the back of that, it has triggered her epilepsy again. She had a silent stroke."

The Wilson family faced further challenges as Kyren revealed his son suffered a fractured eye socket and broken nose, which needed surgery, in a school accident. "I've had non-stop hospital appointments with him. But he's alright, he's tough as old boots," Wilson added. "I've been non-stop. I've hardly been able to practise. I haven't really able to travel a lot. It's part of having children, isn't it?"

Despite these hurdles, Wilson clinched the world championship title last year, followed by victories at the Xi'an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open. He is now setting his sights on the Masters after finishing runner-up in 2018 and took Murphy's strong semi-final performance in his stride.

"[I'm going to] try and rub salt into the wounds, he should have had two 147s. So poor from him really," Wilson joked about Murphy's win.